"There is a compass in the standing-room, Louis; suppose we go below and look up this matter," Morris proposed, though he could have had no suspicion that the captain had any concealed intentions.
They went down the forward ladder to the forecastle, though there was one aft leading into the standing-room. Louis found that Scott was seated on the divan abaft the wheel, studying a chart, which he could see included the island of Cyprus. He took no notice of them as they descended the ladder, and they went to the standing-room without stopping on the forecastle. Morris led the way; for he seemed to be impatient to ascertain whether or not he was right in relation to the course of the steamer.
"There you are!" he exclaimed as he looked at the face of the compass. "The Maud is headed to the north north-east half east; and that is not the course Captain Scott gave out when Flix took the helm."
"But it is not a great change," added Louis.
"Just now it is not; but in making two hundred miles to the northward it would take the Maud to a point about forty miles to the westward of where she would have brought up on her former course," Morris explained.
"I understand your point; but what does it mean?"
"It means that we are going to a place forty miles west of the one we started for."
"I don't understand it; and Captain Scott is just as tenacious in keeping his own counsels as the commander of the Guardian-Mother himself," replied Louis.
"But you have as much influence with him as the commander."
"And for that reason I will not ask him any questions in regard to the sailing of the Maud."
Morris was not ready to ask him to call the captain to an account; and, leaving him in the standing-room, he went into the cabin. Louis was not willing to believe, or even to accept a suggestion that Scott had any ulterior purpose in his mind; for it seemed very much like treason to harbor such a thought of his friend. The only thing that gave him a hint in that direction was the fact he had expressed that Louis ought not to be on board of the Maud during her present mission.
If the little steamer was not to engage in some perilous adventure, why should Scott wish he were somewhere else? But the captain was certainly solicitous for one of those whose safety was threatened; and he tried to believe that this was a sufficient explanation. While he was thinking of the matter, Morris rushed out of the cabin, and looked and acted as though he were laboring under some excitement.